Chapter one:
Bryntley’s softball team received an invitation, from the French Softball Association (FSA), to play a series of exhibition games during the off season. That meant the games would be played in the winter but would also be played in an indoor arena.
It was exciting news for Bryntley and her teammates to hear. What was even more exciting to hear was that it would be paid for by the FSA. The team members would all have to get parental consent since they were all under age but it was a great opportunity and there would be adult chaperones.
Bryntley and her teammates were young teens from fourteen to sixteen years old and had been playing softball for a while. Their coach Amelia Sterling had gathered the team and presented the proposal to the members. An information packet detailing the event and itinerary had been given to each team member, who would then be able to show them to their parents.
It was a long day for the teammates as they were all excited to present their case to their parents as soon as they could get home. A free trip to Europe was nothing to sneeze at and landing in Paris was a dream come true. It was an honor to be asked to participate in such a revered event.
The day seemed to drag on and Bryntley couldn’t wait to tell her mother about the contents of the information packet. Her main argument would be how much the team needed her since she had risen in ranks to become the team’s pitcher. She had worked hard and earned her spot as pitcher and team leader.
Bryntley’s parents were proud of their daughter’s efforts to become part of a team and were even more proud of the fact that she became the team leader. It required responsibility and Bryntley had demonstrated she was up for the challenge. Bryntley sat quietly while her parents, Jason and Jeorj reviewed the information.
The itinerary called for the team to fly from the US to Paris and then take a train from Paris to Chambéry, France. Chambéry had an arena there, the Le Phare arena, that could house an event such as what had been proposed. Representatives of the FSA, would accompany the girls, coaches and chaperones throughout their journey.
Claire Barbeau, Jacqueline Durret, and Danielle LeCasse were in charge of providing for all of the arrangements for the team’s trip. They worked for the FSA and were interested in promoting Softball throughout France and the rest of Europe.
The train ride from the Charles de Gaulle airport to Chambéry would be lengthy and across some rugged terrain, but the French representatives assured all of the parents the train was very new and had all of the high tech equipment necessary to make for a safe journey.
Those assurances were all that was needed and all of the parents signed off on the trip and games. A lot of these kids had never even spent the night away from home much less two weeks on a different continent. The girls were a little scared but the excitement won out and they were all anxious to go.
They didn’t have a lot of time to prepare but did have enough time to obtain a passport, shots and enough euros for dollars to have some spending money. They had all paid for expedited service to get passports sooner and had to sign up for an international plan for phone service. The French representatives also told them they would provide phone cables to charge phones using French electrical outlets and a converter to use for plugging in curling irons and other US based electrical products.
The papers were signed, “t’s crossed and i’s dotted”, passports ordered and currency exchanged so all that was left was waiting for the day to arrive. Their excitement grew as the day got closer and passports were finally received. The girls spent the rest of their time comparing each other’s passports to see who had the worst photo.
The French representatives had come back about a week before departure time to get to know the girls better. They wanted to make life easier for the girls and gave them nicknames to call them to make things less formal. Claire Barbeau would simply be Claire, Jacquelin Duret would be Jackie, and Danielle LaCasse would become Dannie.
The whole softball team had been training ever since they got the invitation even though it was off season. They wanted to be ready and not be embarrassed in front of thousands of people they didn’t know and would never see again. They wanted to do well for themselves and really didn’t care about who saw them or who cared. The main thing was, they cared and they all took pride in the job they did on the field, or in this case in an arena.
The girls worried about things like what to pack. Sure softball uniforms were necessary for game play but what about down time. None of these girls from Amarillo, TX had ever been this far away from home before. They would be on their own and would have to make their own decisions. The important thing was evidently their parents thought they were capable or they wouldn’t have signed the consent form.
The girl’s coordinated everything about what they were packing and compared notes with each other and their parents did as well. The three French representatives had given recommendations on what they should need and what would be provided.
The girls were excited about seeing France and eating french food but none of them wanted to eat snails. In discussions with each other they decided they would stick to french pastries to be on the safe side. Claire, Jackie and Dannie promised they would make sure they all knew what they were eating.
Claire, Jackie and Dannie would be close by to help with communication since none of the Texas girls could speak french. The language sounded a little strange with a Texas accent anyway. Claire, Jackie and Dannie promised that most of the people they would come in contact with spoke English since they were used to American tourists. Chambéry was very close to the French Alps and a lot of tourists came there to ski. It was close to the border to Switzerland and had lots of visitors every year.
They had just hours left to say goodbye to parents and friends before getting ready to leave in the early morning hours. The first leg of the journey was Amarillo to Dallas and then change planes for a direct flight to Charles de Gaulle airport from Dallas.
It would be a long day of flying, especially for those girls who had never ridden a plane before. An international flight wasn’t the best choice for a first flight but it would certainly be memorable.
Flight day started at four in the morning for Bryntley. Her flight would leave at six and she had to get ready and load her luggage in the car. She told her brother goodbye, he fell asleep in the car on the way to the airport and wouldn’t see her fly away. Bryntley was too nervous to worry about that at this point.
Bryntley’s mother walked into the airport with her and Claire, Jackie, and Dannie were there waiting to lead all of the girls to their waiting gate. Some of the other girls had already arrived and some had yet to arrive. Bryntley told her mother goodbye and watched her disappear down the corridor.
The girls had all made it to the airport and found their gate by the time Jeorj made it back to the car where Jason was waiting with Bryntley’s sleeping brother Lincoln. The need to get Lincoln home outweighed watching the plane take off, especially since Bryntley had already spent an enormous amount of time saying goodbye to her family.
The girls had a short time to wait before the notice came to board the plane. The airline had allowed the girls and chaperones to board right after the handicapped and special needs passengers, but before everyone else. They were all seated together to allow them to all stay together when they changed planes at DFW airport before boarding their flight to Paris.
The flight from Amarillo to Dallas was quick and uneventful. Then the group unboarded their plane to find the gate they would need for the international flight to Paris. They had a layover long enough for all to find a place to eat before their next departure.
All the girls were sitting around the seating area by the gate while they ate the snacks they had bought at the snack areas nearby. They talked, read books and played on their phones while they waited for the call to board the plane for the last and largest part of their trip.
Just like they had done in Amarillo, the girls got to load the plane right after the handicapped group and they were all seated together. This flight would be a very long flight and boredom was the next hurdle to cross.
The plane taxied out to the runway and quickly reached a speed needed to take off. The flight attendants demonstrated the safety precautions and the fasten seatbelt signs were on. Bryntley was nervous but those feelings left after they were safely in the air and the fasten seatbelts signs went out. . After they had flown for a while, the pilot announced they were leaving US airspace and would be in international airspace soon.
